Electronic ballasts (EVGs) for operating lamps, in particular gas discharge lamps, are already well known. Ballasts of the latest generation are thereby not only capable of precisely monitoring the operating behavior of a lamp to be operated and ensuring a fault-free lamp operation, but beyond this also have a data or communication connection, via which they can communicate with other ballasts or with central control devices. Through this there is for example the possibility to send to the ballast brightness commands for the controlled lamps. Beyond this, the sent data can also generally influence the operating behavior of the ballast, for example indicate the average power to be delivered to the gas discharge lamp or to determine the pre-heating duration before an ignition of the lamp.
Along with these ballasts just described, which are configured for extensive data communication, there are however often put to use also simply configured ballasts which are exclusively provided for operating the associated lamp in accordance with a predetermined scheme. The operating behavior of these ballasts is already largely fixed during production and can subsequently not be influenced or only slightly influenced. In particular such ballasts are not configured to communicate, or at least to receive data, via corresponding data or communication connections with other participants of an illumination system or with a central control device.
In order, even with these more simple ballasts, to open up the possibility of being able to influence the operating behavior still at least to a certain degree at a later time point, that is after production, it is known to provide such ballasts with a configuration input. At this configuration input there can then be connected passive configuration elements such as e.g. resistances or the like, which through their physical characteristics influence a certain function of the ballast. For example it is known, through the size of an external resistance connected to the configuration input, to set the power which is delivered from the ballast to the lamp, or to determine the duration of the pre-heating phase before an ignition of the gas discharge lamp.
Through the arrangement of an additional configuration input, however, the outlay for production of the electronic ballast is in turn increased. Further, the possibilities for influencing the operating behavior of the ballast with the aid of such a configuration input are limited. Beyond this, it is to be considered that usually electronic ballasts are fully enclosed in a housing, which solely has the terminals for current supply of the ballast and the terminals for the lamp. With these very compact configurations, supplementary terminals or inputs are not provided, for which reason a subsequent influencing of the operating behavior is not possible.